Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-12-22
COLORADO SNOW BANKS.
TRACES OF GLACIAL ACTION FOUND
ALONG THE WATERWAYS.

Snow Slides and Their Destructiveness.
Length of Time the Snow on the
Mountains is Supposed to Last-Frost
Never Out of the Ground.
"How often is the snow renewed on the tops
of the mountains in ColoradoF asked re-
porter of pioneer Coloradoan, Mr.. William
N. Byers, who has observed the face OF nature
in the Rockies for many years.
aWell, /" said he, "that is a gigantic question
which HAYDEN asked himself years ago, but
utterly failed to answer. Some persons think
the snow is renewed on the mountains here
every two years, but doubt it greatly, and
after all it is matter of the merest con-
lecture We can only use our powers OF OBJ
servation and draw our differences from the
most practical reasons at hand You have
heard, of course that the main difference ex-
listing between our mountains and those OF
the old world lies in the fact that there
glaciers abound, whereas we are free from
those terrible anathemas of ice and snow.
"But there are plentiful traces of glacial
action at the head of the Arkansas river, and
about Lake creek, in the neighborhood OF
Twin lakes, and on both sides OF the Arkansas
valley. These traces are a remarkable
feature of the rocks. They are called
moranes. The rocks are scored in places
along the foot Of the mountains, and the
pushing out of moraines into the Arkansas is
observed.
Another remarkable instance Is seen in the
region of Grand lake, in Middle park, in the
scoring of the rocks in the terminal and
lateral moraines Nearly all these lakes are
the result OF glacial action In every ravine
in the glacial period there were rivers of ice.
As the ravines unite the ice rivers accumulate
in the passage down the ravines, and are null
tiplied in junction with other ravines until
they become plows of ice. These plows push
both to the right and 10 the left, but the
greater portion is pushed on in front, and is
called terminal moraine. The masses pushed
out at the sides are known as lateral
moraines.
NATURES OWN SNOW PLOW.
"This is like a pIow with double share
turning a furrow both right and left The
effect on the unbroken rock is TO scour and
polish it, and TO score it into grooves, sweep
ing everything movable before it, depositing
all this moving matter at its sides and
directly in front. When the glacial period
ended and the temperature of this part of the
earth changed it left these rivers of ice pro-
jectlng down into the plains at the mouth of
the gorge, penetrating the surface of the
earth to more or less depth, and running
through until they gradually melted away.
Thus were formed most of our mountain
lakes, such as Twin, Grand and Black l
once counted from the summit of Longs
peak thirty-five lakes, some OF which are
covered with ice all tile year through.
"The snow probably remains for genera
tons or centuries in many of the snow fields
which yet exist in the Rocky mountains
think it is possible that the snow melts under
meath and is replaced. 1t is safe to say there
are no living glaciers now in this portion OF
the Rocky mountains. There is, however, 8
slow, hardly perceptible motion of the snow
fields down hill
Frost has been found in many of tht
mines in the high mountains above timbel
line at great depth. In the North Star mine
near Hoosier pass frost was found at a deptl
Of las feet. The great extent of plateau
country causes the high temperature of tn.
mountain ranges, and is the cause of th.
ohc" AhcihlAS Oh III NtnNTdSI W LIN
mountains of Switzerland or those of the Sc,
coast. The mountains of the sea coast hav,
low snow line, and it is this which cause
glaciers. Along the Alaskan coast tn
glaciers are pushing out into the sea.
AS for the mountains here, they are mucl
like those Of the Hinalaya range in Asia
having the same high snow line. This i
another argument in favor of Colorado. TIL
high snow line insures dry, bracing, toni
climate
"The snow fields worthy Of mention whcl
last all the year around are situated betweel
Longs peak and Middle park These re
main during the summer have often oh
served the glacial action on the fence il
Middle park 1t moves them every winter
This melton is not great In fact, it is S
slow as TO be almost imperceptible Snow
slides are very common in Colorado, an
most common in the San Juan, near tn
main range, They occur every year, an
frequently when snow falls to any extent.
LOSS OF HUMAN LIFE.
MANY lives are lost in snow slides becaus
people who become indifferent to DANCE
through long association with 1t will insi.
on building houses in the wrong location
When snow begins in the mountains It ofte
falls twenty, thirty or forty feet, and S
covers up the old snow. The ground is frozer
The frost never comes out OF the grounC
When we dig there we always find the cart
frozen. 1t may be that the snow gradual
melts away, but as / said before, nobod
knows anything about it positively 1t is
mere matter of conjecture. There are plac,
in the mountains where | don't think Il
snow ever melts. don't believe there is an
spot where timber grows that snow doesn
melt If the snow had not melted the tin
Der never could have grown. Above timbt
growth perpetual shaae cannot exist excey
under ledge of rock. The sun gets aroun
everywhere in the summer time.
at Is estimated" said State Engineer Ne
Teton to the reporter later, "that sixty inch.
of water fall annually on the eastern slope {
the Rocky mountains in the form of sno
and rain; 50 per cent. of this falls during Il
winter and spring months. That which fail
late in the autumn and early in the winter
most available for irrigation, as il becom,
solid, almost like ice and melts slowly und,
the summers sun, affording steady TO
through the irrigating season. Shows fal
ing in hate spring melt rapidly, and the vi
tiers run down the rivers unused Althoug
about fifty mountain peaks in Colorado reaC
an elevation Of over IA, 900 feet, vet the sno
nearly all disappears every season, sma
quantities remaining only in patches here ar
there. On this account there are at presel
no glaciers in the Rocky mountains Tt
cold mountains condense the moisture IN Il
country adjacsnI, thereby robbing the plail
OF their quota of moisture.
eHnnnp the itxy.f xsri
quite easy to foreten the probable amount
water for irrigation purposes for the comm
season by watching the amount OF snowfa
In the mountains.
Farmers living from twenty to thirt
G2ites fran the IuordfAfnS; or where they ca
watch the snowfall on the main range Of tt
mountains, have 1eprned bow to gauge the
crops by the time the SNOW falls and the qua
tity Ii the snow falls early they expe
water for late crops. II the snow fall pri
cipally in the spring months they fear sho
water III summer and fall, and plant or SO
accordingly
There can re no doubt about the influent
that cutting or burning the timber on tt
mountains has on the flow of our stream
They will on this account become more int
mittent in their flow, which is a drawback
the irrigation interests of the state The pre-
ervation Of the mountain forests should
encouraged" concluded Mr.. Nettleton Ell
phatically .-DenverGr Tribune Republican.
The sculptor or the Founder
Many newspaper reports of the unveilir
OF statues suggest the question whether ii